With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Moral Dilemmas in Web Design
The World Wide Web is an ocean not unlike our own Earthly waters— beautiful, dangerous, full of an unbelievable variety… Amazing vistas interspersed with miles of trash just like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Overwhelming depths that one can easily drown in. There are kajillions of websites, images, opinions, pontifications, manifestos, and other content that has the potential to affect the reader in a myriad of ways. The bad is mixed in with the good, and a few futile filters do little to protect our children from the darkness that exists online.
Web designers and content creators have a moral responsibility to produce thoughtful, accurate, and educational content. There are too many sharks in the deep online waters, too many people putting out disinformation, manipulated images, “fake news,” “alternative facts,” whatever you wanna call it—if it’s baseless, biased, unverified, and created to hurt others, it’s trash. We may not be able to stop others from spreading worthless information and things better left unseen, but we CAN do our best to create intelligent, compassionate, TRUE content that does not inflame the masses or mislead the reader.
Of course, most writing is inherently biased, to some degree. And some would argue that bias is even preferable in certain instances and can add humanity, passion, and authenticity to the written work. The American Press Institute put out a great article on Understanding Bias, which presents several valid reasons to find and/or use bias in a journalistic piece. The article contends that writers invariably cannot avoid bias, examines why bias exists in journalism, how some of these reasons are valid, sensible, and in some cases, preferable, and states that writers must learn how to “manage” their bias, rather than eliminate it completely. The problems occur when a writer does not acknowledge their bias or deliberately skews facts to lend credence to their view or belief.
The Power of Prose
Words have a lot of power. The most articulate of us can turn a friendly phrase into a subtle shift in thought, all with the right spin. Words can be weaponized, and misinformation online can have deadly results. According to a recent study done by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, approximately 800 people died, and over 6,000 were hospitalized, in the first three months of 2020 after using so-called “miracle cures” they found online.
Researchers at Stanford University studied the spread of fake news and its effect on the reader. They found that, as you might suspect, that the continual exposure to false information, especially from an influential source they deem credible, can lead to increased susceptibility in the reader to believing disinformation. Increased activity online due to the Covid quarantine increases the chance of running into fake or misleading information.
Online readers are fully aware of the increasing prevalence of falsehoods on their news—and social media feeds. A statista report published in 2019 shows that Americans are waking up to the problem, even as they continue to wade in the muck. Americans now consider misinformation and disinformation major problems in this country. Statista also indicates that 52% of American respondents think that online news websites consistently report fake information, and only 26% are confident in their ability to discern the validity of online information.
(Based on survey of 2,200 Americans. Sources: Institute For Public Relations, Morning Consult, https://www.statista.com/chart/18538/issues-considered-major-problems-by-americans/)
One of the most disturbing trends in false content online is the increasing prevalence and belief of conspiracy theories, defined as “an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable. The term has a negative connotation, implying that the appeal to a conspiracy is based on prejudice or insufficient evidence” (Wikipedia). Conspiracy theories took root in the U.S. after the JFK assassination (Full disclosure—I am not 100% sure I don’t believe the one about JFK and the CIA…).
They have now blossomed in the modern era, becoming dangerous fodder—the popularity of theories like QAnon and “Pizzagate” has led some to feel like they have to be the hero; case in point, the man who armed himself with an AR-15 and walked into Comet Ping Pong, a popular pizza joint in Washington D.C. that had been labeled a hub for an elite child sex trafficking operation supposedly involving Hillary Clinton and John Podesta. No one was injured, but the steady incline of popular belief in these kinds of stories promote misguided vigilantism. I mean, who wouldn’t want to save a bunch of kids from a powerful group of reptilian, shape-shifting, pedophilic, Satan-worshipping baby-eaters? Rumors like these will inevitably lead to innocent people getting hurt.
A fascinating article by The New York Times explores the psyche of people who are prone to believe these wild theories, sharing results of a two-part study titled “Looking Under the Tinfoil Hat” that was presented in the Journal of Personality online, in which almost 2,000 subjects were first asked questions to gauge their level of belief or willingness to entertain some common conspiracy theories, then a second test to determine standard personality types and tendencies. As stated in the article, the surveys indicated that:
“The personality features that were solidly linked to conspiracy beliefs included some usual suspects: entitlement, self-centered impulsivity, cold-heartedness (the confident injustice collector), elevated levels of depressive moods and anxiousness (the moody figure, confined by age or circumstance). Another one emerged from the questionnaire that aimed to assess personality disorders—a pattern of thinking called ‘psychoticism.’ Psychoticism is a core feature of so-called schizo-typal personality disorder, characterized in part by ‘odd beliefs and magical thinking’ and ‘paranoid ideation.’ In the language of psychiatry, it is a milder form of full-blown psychosis, the recurrent delusional state that characterizes schizophrenia. It’s a pattern of magical thinking that goes well beyond garden variety superstition and usually comes across socially as disjointed, uncanny or ‘off.'”
(nytimes.com)
The bottom line I’m drawing is, crazy people believe crazy things. And the more people who believe it, the more weight it gathers, the more credibility it’s given, until the lie becomes the truth and the truth becomes the lie.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Votes
The concern over mis- and disinformation is justified and critical. In 2017, the House Intelligence Committee released information pertaining to dozens of Facebook “fake news” ads bought by various Russian individuals and agencies, and hearings in the House and Senate took place concerning Russia’s possible interference in the 2016 presidential election:
“evidence presented to the Senate committee revealed that material generated by the Kremlin had reached a hundred and twenty-six million American Facebook users.”
(The New Yorker)
Political scientists and scholars like Kathleen Hall Jamieson, professor of communications at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President—What We Don’t, Can’t, and Do Know,” contend that Russians targeted segments of the U.S. population to dissuade or sway their votes by posing as Americans on social media and promoting fake news ads. Jamieson, who co-founded FactCheck.org in 2003 and is an expert analyst in the field of political debates and speeches, says that this tactic and other factors, such as the large number of undecided voters (approximately 37 million voters who were still undecided just a few weeks before the November 2016 election), enhanced the effectiveness of the camouflaged Russian ads.
The direct effect these ads had on the outcome of the election is a topic for contention, but Jamieson and others argue that Russian misinformation created by agencies like the Internet Research Agency in Saint Petersburg bolstered the Trump campaign’s rhetoric and effectively swayed their target audience. Russia geared ads toward Christians and military families to make Trump more palatable. They used specific imagery, such as Hillary with Devil horns and references to wanting Jesus to win. Trump won with both evangelicals and military veterans at the polls on election day, despite his previous derogatory comments about veterans and his “less than Evangelical” behavior. The Russian ads arguably were instrumental in bringing about such a high voter turnout in Trump’s favor, along with these groups’ general disdain for Clinton.
One may argue that Clinton’s flaws and policies are the reason she lost, but one cannot argue that she won the popular vote and lost in the electoral college. That’s beside the point. Ultimately, people will believe what they want to believe, and Hillary had been doing better in the polls in the months leading up to November, so Trump’s win was a surprise to many—but not to Russia.
Americans are certain to think twice now before believing every Facebook post in their news feed—but “proof” of something people already want to believe is powerful, factual or not. Our addiction to Facebook is our Achilles’ heel, and Russia used that addiction to manipulate public opinion. The worst news is that people are fully aware of the problem but not willing to cut the cancer out, and the wheels keep on turning, driving us further into an era of mistrust. People are starving for reliable sources, even as they eagerly ingest the rest.
Stick to the Facts, Jack
Simple steps can be taken to ensure your content is unbiased, researched, informative, and factual. Brand Driven Digital, a digital marketing firm, and the Public Relations Society of America offered several suggestions that could be useful:
- Provide credible, accurate information (duhhhh…).
- Cite sources and check for credibility.
- If you create content with others, create an ethics platform to set a guide for communication.
- Avoid conflicts of interest.
- Protect privacy and confidential information.
- Be transparent.
- Be respectful.
(https://www.branddrivendigital.com/5-tips-to-approaching-ethics-with-social-media/)
The flood of information on the Web can be deceptively dirty. Let us all do our part to keep it clean. We MUST create truthful, fact-based, respectful content to hold back the tide of misinformation, disinformation, fake news, falsehoods, manipulated images, photoshopped fiction, and all the garbage dirtying up the Internet.
Of course, there certainly are legitimate and benign reasons to alter images or content, as any photographer or artist would contend. Common sense and good judgment must be employed to determine the difference. If it feels “wrong” viscerally, it probably is.
The problem of “fake news” is not going away. Frankly, I resent having to permit this phrase permanent entry into modern speech, but fake news is here to stay—and web designers and content creators have a responsibility to buoy the conversation, not muddy the waters.
Sources
Andrews, Edmund. “How fake news spreads like a real virus.” Stanford Engineering, 9 Oct 2019. https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/article/how-fake-news-spreads-real-virus
Carey, Benedict. “A Theory About Conspiracy Theories.” The New York Times, 28 Sep 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/28/health/psychology-conspiracy-theories.html
Islam, Md Saiful, et. al. “COVID-19–Related Infodemic and Its Impact on Public Health: A Global Social Media Analysis.” The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 103, Issue 4, p. 1621-1629, 7 Oct 2020. http://www.ajtmh.org/content/journals/10.4269/ajtmh.20-0812
Mayer, Jane. “How Russia Helped Swing the Election for Trump.” The New Yorker, 24 Sep 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/01/how-russia-helped-to-swing-the-election-for-trump
Roth, Zachary. “Electoral College Lesson: More Voters Chose Clinton, but Trump Will Be President.” nbcnews.com, 9 Nov 2016. https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-election-day/electoral-college-lesson-more-voters-chose-hillary-clinton-trump-will-n681701
Siddiqui, F; Svrluga, S. “N.C. man told police he went to D.C. pizzeria with gun to investigate conspiracy theory.” The Washington Post, 5 Dec 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/12/04/d-c-police-respond-to-report-of-a-man-with-a-gun-at-comet-ping-pong-restaurant/
Silverman, Craig.”People Read News On Facebook But They Don’t Really Trust It, A Survey Found.” BuzzFeed News, 19 Jan 2017. https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/people-be-reading-but-not-trusting-news-on-facebook
Statista Research Department. “Exit polls of the 2016 presidential elections in the United States on November 9, 2016, percentage of votes by military service.” Statista, 9 Nov 2016. https://www.statista.com/statistics/631991/voter-turnout-of-the-exit-polls-of-the-2016-elections-by-military-service/
Vox staff. “QAnon: The conspiracy theory embraced by Trump, several politicians, and some American moms.” Vox, 3 Mar 2019. https://www.vox.com/2020/10/9/21504910/qanon-conspiracy-theory-facebook-ban-trump
WARC Staff. “Global online content consumption doubles in wake of COVID.” Double Verify, WARC, 24 Sep 2020. https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/global-online-content-consumption-doubles-in-wake-of-covid/44130
Watson, Amy. “Fake News–Statistics & Facts.” Statista, 5 May 2020. https://www.statista.com/topics/3251/fake-news/#dossierSummary__chapter5
Westergaard, Nick. “5 Ethics Tips to Remember for Your Brand’s Social Media.” Brand Driven Digital, 7 Apr 2020.https://www.branddrivendigital.com/5-tips-to-approaching-ethics-with-social-media/
Wikipedia contributors. “Conspiracy theory.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Nov 2020. Accessed 11 Nov 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conspiracy_theory&oldid=987908319
Wikipedia contributors. “Russian Interference in the 2016 United States elections.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 Oct 2020. Accessed 4 Nov 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_interference_in_the_2016_United_States_elections
Such a relevant post. The internet is a dual-edged sword. It is a powerful source of connection and information, but in unscrupulous hands it can also do a great deal of damage. The 2016 election is definitely an extreme example of this. In recent years, I think, people have become more aware of the problem of “fake news,” but I know many people still struggle to sniff it out. You made a great point that we, as content creators, have an obligation to create factual and ethical material and you offered some great tips for doing so.
Such a great post! I think you summed it up with “crazy people believe crazy things.” I consider myself sane-ish, and wonder all the time how people believe some of the insane things I have seen or heard. Like you, I believe as writers or designers, we do have the duty to produce truthful content, but it is difficult when readers/users freely consume ‘fake news’ and call your efforts into question.
I am so glad I am able to read this post outside of our feedback circles. I was very intrigued with your proposal, and you definitely did not disappoint. Your article reminds me of another article within our blog, “Detecting PS”. It’s so interesting that the more desensitized our readers are to this fake news, or photoshopped material, the more we believe it to be true. I read an excerpt about the ethics and values digital creators must uphold, because we literally have the world’s attention at our finger tips. Eliminating facts and photoshopping for aesthetic reasons can quickly become a huge problem for our audience. If we aren’t interested in the real truth as a whole, we should not be creating in the first place. Thanks for opening our eyes to this very real and present issue in the online world!
Unfortunately, the freedom the internet offers and the ease with which dis-information can spread are perfect conditions for the atmosphere that you have described here. I mean, even the President of the United States, himself is spreading fake news. So, one could easily argue that if the president can, then I can, right?!
It is very unfortunate that people has succumbed to accepting fake-news as real news, even going so far as to concoct elixirs that kill people. This brings to mind the old elixirs (potions) con-artists would peddle – gypsy types.
It’s not easy to discern some of the very great con-artists as they weave their magic into our society. This has been part of the very make-up of America, (and the world) and the internet had nothing to do with it. Tell people something over and over, like Hitler did, to create a hostile environment that he(they-government) can control and people will buy into it (propaganda). Conspiracy theories exist because it has been proven that people or governing bodies cannot be trusted to be truthful. Our current day president is no exception.
We (society) have also set ourselves up through allowing advertisers to proliferate fake-ness. We continue to allow altered/filtered photos, and dis-information in our advertisements, almost as if we prefer the fake to the real. And, continuing in that light, our mobile devices, have apps that encourage the use of filters on our photographs. And, we accept these as real. This simple act, or use of filters, subliminally sets us up for the longterm scam of fake-news.
Thank you for bringing to light this very important subject. The more we address this issue, the better equipped people will become at recognizing the falsehoods that dominate the internet.
Great article!!
Absolutely agree with you. Fake news is seeming to become more of a rapid issue especially with everything going on right now. When reading the news/articles it is hard to know for sure if everything is the truth. Your article really highlighted this issue. great job.
I have a similar post like this talking about how you can find fake and sensational news online. It has over the last years messed with the emotions and minds of many. This false content has created division throughout the country like never before. I mentioned in my blog post that there is not accountability for misleading information. I stated that one false ad or video can lead a person down a rabbit hole of more wrong content. I often have to catch myself before I keep clicking and scrolling.